Flavouring and fortifying virgin olive oils is an increasing commercial trend, aiming to meet new
consumers’ preferences and provide new differentiated products. These practices usually positively impact the
oils’ sensory profile and chemical composition, increasing their natural richness on bioactive compounds.
However, some negative effects have also been reported.
Scope and approach: This review provides a summary of common flavouring/fortification techniques as well as of
the usual natural agents used. Co-extraction, contact and essential oils incorporation techniques are addressed.
Usually, flavouring/fortification enhances desirable sensory sensations, and shelf-life, and promotes the incorporation
of bioactive compounds like antioxidants. Also, the excess of flavouring may promote the appearance of
unpleasant sensory sensations and, in some cases, results in pro-oxidant activity. Fortification, in turn, involves
the incorporation of extracts rich in bioactive compounds, contributing to the nutritional and healthy enrichment
of the olive oil. However, fortification may also increase the oil’s turbidity and/or promote the appearance of
unpleasant sensory sensations, resulting in a less appealing oil, hindering the consumers’ purchasing.
Key findings and conclusions: Although traditional in the Mediterranean, olive oil flavouring or fortification may
have positive/negative effects at chemical and sensory levels. This awareness is of paramount commercial
importance and can be used as a decision-maker tool for olive oil producers. Thus, the advantages/disadvantages
of the different methodologies are discussed, and some perspectives and possible future directions are proposed
and briefly discussed.
The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology
(FCT, Portugal) for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020) unit and SusTEC (LA/P/0007/2020); to Project “GreenHealth - Digital strategies in biological assets to
improve well-being and promote green health” (Norte-01-0145-FEDER-
000042) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the
scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Nuno
Rodrigues thanks to National funding by FCT- Foundation for Science
and Technology, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment
program-contract.
